Hardware 2.0

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Do you read EULAs?

By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes | November 8, 2010, 9:35am PST

Summary: There’s no better time to realize just how many EULAs (End User License Agreements), and just how incomprehensible they are, than when setting up a new PC. But does anyone actually bother reading them?

There’s no better time to realize just how many EULAs (End User License Agreements), and just how incomprehensible they are, than when setting up a new PC. But does anyone actually bother reading them?

Poll

Do you read EULAs?

I’ll be honest with you, I rarely read EULAs. I’ve been exposed to so much EULA legal mumbo-jumbo and gobbledygook over the years that I’ve come to the conclusion that you can distill the pages of circuitous prattle down to the following:

Blah, blah, blah … heads we win, tails you lose … blah, blah blah …

Occasionally I will venture into a EULA looking for answers to very specific questions, such as how many installs of a particular program I’m legally allowed to do. However, most of the time the answer isn’t forthcoming, at which point I admit defeat and either Google for the answer or hit the company with an email asking for clarification.

If I can’t make sense of EULAs, I hate to think what the average user makes of them.

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EULA, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

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great poll

kouzen 9th Nov 2010

Great poll, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes! EULAs are evil. There should be a law against them. Fight evil with more evil! :P

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RE: Do you read EULAs?

mcfant 8th Nov 2010

We have become so saturated with EULAs that we have become numb to them and just accept them without reading them. On a weekly average I come arcoss at least 5 or more.

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RE: Do you read EULAs?

donotdisconnect 8th Nov 2010

@mcfant
Read or don't read.... You are not installing the software if you don't agree with it anyway. So if you read and don't like the EULA then what are you going to do? "Opened Software sorry we can't exchange or refund".

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RE: Do you read EULAs?

Loverock Davidson 8th Nov 2010

I'll browse over them quickly if its new software I'm not familiar with. If its software that I've had before then it gets skipped and I continue with the install. Reading EULAs isn't a bad thing, just look at how Google got caught trying to take over with their EULA.

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RE: Do you read EULAs?

daikon 8th Nov 2010

@Loverock Davidson
Please explain that comment.

How did Google get caught? Some type of fraud or what.

Hooay!

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Nope

Economister Updated - 8th Nov 2010

It is a cost/benefit thing. It takes more time and effort than it is worth - virtually ALL the time. And notice I said "virtually", because once in a while someone gets their nuts in the wringer because they did not read it.

Maybe they should face greater regulation so that ordinary mortals may read and understand them.

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Even worse.

TripleII-21189418044173169409978279405827 8th Nov 2010

Most EULA's state that they are subject to change to which you are bound and they state that you should pro-actively re-scan EULA's and terms of use often. I doubt that is enforceable under law, you can't change a "contract" unilaterally without notice, but in general, like you said, they are a joke.

For example...
http://www.garmex.com.vn/SUMMIT%20Privacy%20Policy.htm
We reserve the right to change the terms of this Privacy Policy. Your continued use of the Site following any changes to this Privacy Policy will be deemed to constitute your acceptance of such changes. Please check this page regularly for any changes.

There you go, now keep in mind virtually EVERY EULA says that, but it is up to you to review and scan for ANY changes before each and every use of the website in this example.

TripleII

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I use an old program called EULAlyzer...

Scubajrr 8th Nov 2010

Several years ago I downloaded EULAlyzer. You use it to scan EULAs for terms such as ,"Third Party, Partners, Search History, ..." Sometimes it can be pretty revealing, it may even make you question whether you really want that piece of software you're installing.

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I am going to have to look into that little utility...

Snooki_smoosh_smoosh 8th Nov 2010

@Scubajrr... Thank you.

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RE: Do you read EULAs?

twaynesdomain Updated - 8th Nov 2010

@Scubajrr I use that same product and in general it's very good at pointing out the non-standard parts of EULAs. It's free, easy to use, and handy when you're reading some of the less than MS EULAs. Mostly what I look for is any ownership of anything I might do/produce with their program/applcation. You'll see it mostly in development apps such as MS licenses, or at least used to; I don't buy MS any longer.

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RE: Do you read EULAs?

ImaGremlin 8th Nov 2010

@Scubajrr Did you read the EULA for it?

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RE: Do you read EULAs?

leopards 8th Nov 2010

Used to do a quick scan, just to be sure I wasn't also giving them the right to install things other than the primary program, like toolbars etc., Since I now use Ubuntu Linux, I no longer have that problem! 8-) no more EULAs !

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RE: Do you read EULAs?

Loverock Davidson 8th Nov 2010

@leopards

You still have that problem under a different name, its called GPL.

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RE: Do you read EULAs?

kirovs@... 8th Nov 2010

@Loverock Davidson
Good one! LOL, substituting 'solution' with a 'problem', now this is what I call funny! Thanks for being the funny kid on the block!

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RE: Do you read EULAs?

swattz101 8th Nov 2010

@leopards --I always run the expert install (or whatever they call it). I can then opt out of most of the extra things like toolbars, setting Yahoo (or Bing! or ask.com or whatever) as my default search engine, etc...

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I Agree?

daikon 8th Nov 2010

@leopards
Want to put Ubuntu or any Linux distro on one machine or several, no problem. That is the Foundations of the GPL, Nobody should be restricted by the software they use.
Hooay!

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RE: Do you read EULAs?

twaynesdomain 8th Nov 2010

@leopards you need to stop and think a bit; you're still tied to several agreements along the way.

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RE: Do you read EULAs?

Bob63 Updated - 8th Nov 2010

@twaynesdomain
The whole point of the GPL (and other similar open-source licenses) I believe, is to make the licensing text understandable by us mere mortals. I think this is the point of the article: there's so much legal-ese in a EULA that nobody reads them.

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RE: Do you read EULAs?

swattz101 8th Nov 2010

I usually skim them, seeing if something pops out at me, until my eyes cross or start to roll up in my head. Sometimes, if I am having trouble sleeping, I will read one. happy

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RE: Do you read EULAs?

Mythos7 8th Nov 2010

If it is from a company I trust about my privacy I don't bother but otherwise I skip down to the privacy section. I have halted an install a couple of times because of the EULA.

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RE: Do you read EULAs?

james347 8th Nov 2010

Never.

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RE: Do you read EULAs?

rhonin 8th Nov 2010

I try.
I really really try.
My eyes cross - my head throbs - I may start drooling....

If new and critical I give it a shot.
Other than that - no way.

Would be soooo nice to simplify these to where the normal user can understand what they really say...

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always, first time I come across a new one

pgit 8th Nov 2010

I've been chewed out for reading EULAs carefully, more than once. I don't care, some day that knowledge may save someone's butt.

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I review them.

ye 8th Nov 2010

I don't install a lot of software so it's not a problem. Also they're not too complicated and most of them are laid out pretty much the same (define the parties, the terms of the license, indemnity, legal location, etc). So it's easy to pick out the important parts.

What I dislike is having to accept an EULA for a patch(thinking of you Adobe) to an existing product for which I've already accepted the EULA.

What I would like to see: If there's a change highlight the changes. Large versions. Putting it into a tiny box to read (and not allowing it to be printed) is idiotic. Do away with the one's for patches.

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EULA is useless.

Dr_Zinj 8th Nov 2010

Either it's short and basically states that the company stands behind their product when used properly; or it's a multi-page document full of a pack of lies, excuses, and obfuscations meaning their product is a peice of steaming excrement and their intention is to rip you off.

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Trust

cburkitt 8th Nov 2010

Any contract, including a EULA, spells out the rights and responsibilities of the involved parties only in case the relationship degenerates into litigation. As long as the parties trust one another, the contract is of no concern. If you don't trust the purveyor of a software application, why would you install it? If you do, why would you read the EULA?

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BTW

Dr_Zinj 8th Nov 2010

The average guy has only 41,130,072 minutes to live. Do you really want to waste 5 of them each time you read an EULA for every peice of software when you're highly unlikely to ever need any of that information?

Time is money, it's also Life. Stop wasting it.

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RE: Do you read EULAs?

nanomartin 8th Nov 2010

Short answer: NO.
Long answer: NO, never ever.

Even I tried, it's all a mess. You'll get anything in conclusion.

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RE: Do you read EULAs?

clfitz 8th Nov 2010

I skim them, just to see if anything particularly oderiferous jumps out. If I smell **** I back out of it.

Like someone else said, I've cancelled a couple installs over a EULA I found objectionable.

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RE: Do you read EULAs?

twaynesdomain 8th Nov 2010

Yes, I do. Fortunately I can speed-read iif my eula-lyzer spots something I can't find or it missed. It seldom misses though.

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I remember what a Marine sargent told me long ago...

mikifinaz1@... 8th Nov 2010

You can beat them to death with their own rules if you are smart.

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RE: Do you read EULAs?

Bulluka 8th Nov 2010

Like someone said, in the first time I started to read EULAS, but I perceive that is the same in most cases.

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RE: Do you read EULAs?

cmrhere@... 8th Nov 2010

I scan most & exit install if I find ref to taking away my ownership rights to anything. You can't uninstall giving that away. Also make sure I can use on 2+ pcs but (I don't fileshare) so try & sue me based on that gibberish.

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My favourite EULA line

AndyCee 9th Nov 2010

From iTunes:
You also agree that you will not use these products for any purposes prohibited by United States law, including, without
limitation, the development, design, manufacture or production of missiles, or nuclear, chemical or biological weapons.

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It can be done correctly.

bezoeker 9th Nov 2010

What is the juridical value if those texts are never read? And the publisher knows that? And he has alternatives to make things clear?

Yes, he has. But still a lot has to be organized. He can clarify it's EUla's on other places, like in his publicity, on his homesite, with his documentation. Where they can be checked before the products are brought, downloaded etc. They should be one of the elements when choosing a product.

Live could be made simpler by using keywords that everyone can understand. Like open_source, copy_permitted, modification_permitted etc. Keywords that the industry can agree on. (But here is a great risk of manipulation by using misleading sounding keywords. People should protect themselves.)

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?but are they enforceable?

Patrick Neylan 9th Nov 2010

@donotdisconnect "So if you read and don't like the EULA then what are you going to do? "Opened Software sorry we can't exchange or refund"."

Under common law (the legal system in the UK and US), the contract is made when you buy the software. If they don't show you the EULA before you buy, then it isn't part of the contract.

The counter-argument is that you know there's going to be a EULA when you buy, so it's implicitly part of the contract. That argument would fall down if there was something unexpected in the EULA, in which case you'd have the right to install the software without clicking "I Agree". Of course, you'd have to sue them to enforce that right and I don't know if anyone's ever done that.

The counter-counter-argument is that many EULAs are so lengthy and impenetrable that no "reasonable person" (an important concept in common law) would be expected to read and understand them. Again, I'm pretty sure that this hasn't been tested in court.

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EULA are why everyone should go with Open Source

SeniorMoment 9th Nov 2010

What is really needed is a standard EULA like the one Borland had (haven't kept up), which amounted to use on only one PC at a time for each license. It can be more elaborate as long as it shows in bold any variance from a uniform, industry wide EULA in larger type in bold.

The EULA though needs to be a concern and read by any company's lawyer or the person responsible for software rights management. Rarely does the software industry go after individual home users, over anything but the most costly software, but they will sue companies, and compliance has become more complex in a networked environment than it once was.

The solution for all is to never buy or use proprietary software or operating systems if it can be avoided. The world is far less complicated if you only have to worry about how well a product works.

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Read EULA's, what, me worry ?

TrainFreak 9th Nov 2010

I remember reading something a long time ago about EULA's that posited the philosophy that THEY write EULA's the way they do so we WON'T read them. I believe they've succeeded.